BATON ROUGE - Three police officers got a free lunch thanks to a gracious waitress Thursday.

The department shared the officer's bill on Facebook where the waitress wrote, "Thank y'all for what y'all do for us everyday. Have a safe and blessed day. I figured the least I could do is buy lunch."

The waitress, Crystal, covered the $36.58 tab at Ichiban on Essen.

"When we thanked her she broke down in tears and told us how sad she was because of how people have been targeting police. We all couldn't stop from sharing this emotional moment and how much we appreciate the great people of this city," one of the officers who had his lunch paid for wrote in a Facebook post on the department's account.

"Thank you Crystal for showing us all what a great city we live and work in," the post continued.

The post has thousands of "likes" and people responded with emotional thanks, too.

"[I] plan on going and requesting Crystal as my waitress and paying it forward with a generous tip," Facebook user Jessica S. posted.

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